c::.acx: «ccc<ci5<?^c : i3Cc<:c<:cc"<3rrc-c; 



_^ ._. -^ C <i= ■< < 

c < <i:c'^:^'<r < ^^ •czc'C^ 
' . <<c<:c^- ccc ^'. ^iC: v:.c 

<*cr^ <^^. <^ c '<<:^.<..oc:. o ., 
<: c c^ cc cr<:^^C£cr'<:^v': 

<:^'c<^ cc^ o<:]c;Cc^c ^: 
<c3v:.cc\c: <!^<:2<-<C\:C:c< ■ - 
^vcccLcc c^icCs^c:: < 
ix:c<:c<icc"<3Ccc'^icc' < 
ccToC'cxrccccc^: <^:^ <:i 
.icicc o!C^ c cc cc ,«: c 



'C'-cc- 
< << 

cc 

■Cc 



tz^<- <n't_ 4^ c;c <c::cc 
-3?;;^"^^.<^jC:^:c <ir.:cc 
,c: ^^Cxc4CI^^- -^-^^ 



<:<3c:_ 



"CC c<:> 
cc c<r^x 



dc c- 
<c<c 



<c;c 



«r^:<i: 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. ' 

Chap. F.M^ 



UNITED STATES OF AMERiCA. 



£ ^ ccz ccc-^ CC ^/: < 

"^c cr ■ cc CL'c <r CC' <^i^-'^- ^ 

~<:T <t cc ' <3:c:^: cc:<c< c 
^- <r cc cjicdxc <cr«5i. 

"^l' . C ex:" CTCC.dCCtC"^^^. 

^cc •: <c cc- cjcgc ■ <r <c<tr'C'C-'. . • 

^or ■ c^r:<cjc^ ^:<c cr cc%, - 

Ccc. cdc-cicc. <^c c:^ ccc-'^ 

^-cic .^.:«c:i<^; «c<5.c^ k:^<:<<sz ^■-■<^'^' :z^--:^^ 
' -'-" ^- '"c:cc:<?c C'^,c<c <^^<^^^.^ c 

>_ v,^ ■^43^'-c:cxc-.v<3:cc:; c<3*g;-^ c^ 



3cr^o 

C.CC. 

■ic ex: 

C^^crC 
v«c ex: 



<:c cc:^ cc _ c^C c^, xijC. -< 
cf cjc <::<: caiC: • <3c:co cc. 

^ <3CC «CC oC_ C^^~ CC^ - 

X cac^ cc <^ jgcr <::c^ ^ 

" xc ^^d. c^ cc 
' <xr. ccr cc ' 
<c:cccr cc 

■_ <Cct<C • ^-^ -'■ 
: <£: c 

:" €r>^.'~'cxr:' 

c<£.c.cc. c<"^:;< 

c <3:r ■ 

:^,:c::'C:: dc.^ 

<3^C^C/ <?-; < 
<3C<(r-c<l:. <l^/.:. ■■ 
oC ■ c C-' d'- ■ 

. c3gc:- <C;'-;- ^:,' ' 

cc •.:<C c^ CC^CC ^C ^:-■ 
^<:r>" ;<r c'C; cC^CC « 

c£' 'C- c<:' «x-;c^. J .^ 

cr: 'C cC cC t <r- ^ c . ^ 

c ',c" cc <c5 cc: <r^ • <^: <^ 

r-«^ CCV cC:cC-_ . 

' C" cc cc c.; die. C cr 

^c^:.<ec,c:.-. ,. 

C <^c: /<cc' -^ - ■ ■ 

"^ «^ csic CC' <r ■< 

"v-c ■■...<£<:: ^ ^c '" 



- cc 

' <f c 



:^-ocd^ <;.^c^^^.^ c: ^ 

. ^ ^c d'd ■ c c c:c<^^5^.c<|^ 
id: C-c; d- d d d C<: -^R^; 'CC:< 

^d dc:dC<0 .v^<:^ 
^ ^ ■ ^ -^ Cd d<: <KCC . mCV C 

ccd c< ^ d ■ <^ <^<-:-^^^ ^^- ^ 

' c cc:^d dc c<-<3te;c<o:< 

Cc Ci: Ct ■ d^Jd_vCC d'C.< 



^c 

CSC 



dc d '< 

C-c; d-C 
cc ' 



cXC «'■■ 

__ C c:^'d'~' ':- C^ 

; 4^:1;^ C'^^ ■-■^, c 
<<::c: C:d c.-.c^?..-^, 
cCd <Cd dCrg. 

^ ti ^ d C<s^d 

rd cc ^ 



dc C 















<:</vXc 



<"0: 






<, c^ <: <i<<:i'C<: 

^^S- <~:^ <r cT 



#1 















:<£:■ e ^ 



'X^ ■ — 









^^^^^5^^-^s 



CCrcCccc 












<^^<Z <C <^ 









<S^C '^CI^<; 



c _<: crc: -<ic:c <:c:<r «rcr. c cc o^ c 






<^^^ «; cs^ 






£ c . ■ <1.<:; <: •<: <1 <r^ 

"^<t: :<z<xzcr c:j< 






^<L <C<|.c_<:r ,;c'- 
^- ^- i>^^^- c:cxc:.ci:: x- 

^ S ^^ X-<^XX ■< 






^•rr. r^^^^ •<^^- <^-- c'<:r_ <:.xxz^/ x^:M^.. '<:i 






/ 





H 



/ 






FOR 

THE JOINT COMMITTEE 

Of tlie Board of Traile and the Cotton Exchange 

By Erwtn Ckaioiieap. 

Mobile Datly Register Print. 

1883. 



Iqbile and her Trade Territory. 



THEEE are few cities situated so advantageously for commercial 
purposes as is Mobile. Like New Orleans, she sits at the gate of 
many rivers and many roads, facilitating the business of the in- 
terior country, and being paid in turn a moderate fee for the service ren- 
dered. Mobile river may be compared to a whip stock, and the wide- 
spreading tributaries, the Tombigbee, the Alabama and their branches, 
to the lashes. This immense whip spreads out over the whole State of 
Alabama, and reaches into Mississippi on the one hand and into Georgia 
on the other. Radiating east, north and south are four lines of 
railroad, all of which are sources of wealth to the Gulf City. The Louis- 
ville and Nashville road, that vast and ever increasing corporation, ex- 
tends a branch to Pensacola, and there connects with the Pensacola and 
Atlantic, which runs through a rich and promising country of western 
Florida, and brings in direct connection with this port the business of 
all southern and eastern Alabama. The main stem of this Louisville 
and Nashville runs northeast, making tributary to Mobile the fertile 
region lying between this city and Montgomery. Northward runs the 
Mobile and Ohio road, Mobile's own railroad, which commands the great 
trade of eastern and central Mississippi, and brings Mobile into direct 
connection with Cairo, Chicago, St. Louis, and other markets of the 
great West. Lastly, there is the Mobile and New Orleans road, running 
along the lovely coast of Mississippi Sound, and aiding the Mobile mer- 
chants in disposing of their goods to within forty miles of the metropolis 
■of the South, the Crescent City, of Louisiana. 

Mobile always dominated this great region, but for a while, during 
what are termed the "dark days" of the reconstruction era, business 
was so disorganized and new methods were so slowly adopted, that it 
began to look as if the city was doomed. Rival after rival sprang into 
the field and divided the trade, and at length heroic measures alone 
could be relied upon to bring back to the Gulf City that trade and com- 
merce which had been hers in the old days before and just after the war. 
It is pleasant to add, that these heroic efforts were made. The rail- 
roads which, with the exception of the Mobile and Ohio, worked against 
Mobile, were taught that the better policy is to help build up all stations 
and not to work for the exclusive benefit of terminal towns only. Equal 
rates were established, equal rights accorded, and very soon the emis- 
saries of the Mobile merchants were scouring the interior country in 
search of custom. This is a matter of but a few years, yet so successful 
has been the effort that it is claimed and not contradicted, that the 
wholesale and general trade of Mobile is now of greater extent and value 
than before the war. All things considered, the victory has been one of 
magnificent proportions. Mobile's steamboats penetrate far into the 
interior : thev take and receive goods for the distance of three and four 



4 . MOBILE AND HER TRADE TERRITORY. 

hundred miles distant, while on the rail lines shipments are made and 
supplies delivered into Mississippi as far west as the great father of 
waters, and into Florida as far east as the capital of the peninsular State. 

This is the work of Mobile alone and is very encouraging, but the 
record of progress is not complete. It remains to tell of the jiresenta- 
tion made last year of another seaport to the world. Not a decade ago 
the shore of the Gulf of Mexico had but one deep water port upon all its 
wide curve, and that one was in the neighboring republic of Mexico. 
Galveston, New Orleans, Mobile and Pensacola, were^ closed to every- 
thing in the shape of vessels, except coasters and very light-draught seago- 
ing vessels, and the expense of making shipments by sea amounted almost 
to an embargo upon the export trade. The National Government, how- 
ever, took charge of the great work of improving these barred harbors, 
and so well has the labor progressed that year Ijy year has come the 
announcement of the opening of port after port. Last year the first 
stage of the work in Mobile Bay was concluded. Seventeen and eigh- 
teen feet of water were obtained, and, immediately, the river in front of 
Mobile's wharves was filled with shipping. For years and years the ves- 
sels for Mobile anchored twenty-five miles down the bay and every bale 
of cotton had to be conveyed thither by the^costly process of lightering. 
Even the light-draught timber shii^s could not be loaded to their capacity 
at these wharves, and the better part of the^ cargo had to be towed the 
twenty-five miles before it could be put aboard. 

The change has been so sudden and so complete that it seems magi- 
cal. Full rigged ships and ocean steamers now come sailing up the bay 
and east out their lines to the pier heads. Business houses, the wharf 
lessees and owners rejoice ; the sound of the hammer and saw, the thud 
of the pile driver, are heard on every hand. The daily cry is, " AVe have 
not room enough ! More wharves! We must have more wharves ! " It 
is indeed a croaker who cannot see in all this the march of material pro- 
gress. There is no man wise enough to define the limits of Mobile's 
hastening prosperity. 



FROM THE VISITOR'S POINT OF VIEW. 



LE AVI N G this wharf front where even now the army of workmen is 
busy construetinff vast rows of piling and erecting immense barriers 
along the water line so that commerce may be benefitted, the visitor 
passes up Government street, and, turning to the right, goes along 
Eoyal. Here he finds the theatre on the right and the quaint old Span- 
ish tower of the municipal guard house on the left. In this theatre a 
series of the most interesting performances are given in the season. A 
little further on he comes to the corner of Dauphin, the principal retail 
street in the city. Passing still beyond, the wanderer reaches the Battle 
House, an ante bellum hostelrie of fame, which has long had its period of 
rest and has now shaken itself together again for a grand stride forward. 

The Battle House is now owned by a company, the majority of 
■whose stock is in the hands of northern capitalists and railroad men. 
These men are determined to make the building complete in all of its 
parts and are resolved to have as popular a hotel as any in the country. 
The work of improvement began on the twentieth of last July and has 
been pushed forward until the change is thorough and in every way 
satisfactory. The rows of stores on the first floor, which have always 
been unsuitable for the transaction of retail business, owing to the lack 
of modern conveniences, have been renovated, supplied with tasty- 
fronts of plate glass doors and windows, set in massive wood work. The 
interior have been freshly painted and in the rear has been constructed 
a wide corridor into which each store opens, and through which guests 
of the house can easily reach the ticket offices, barber shops, furnishing 
goods stores, etc. 

Up stairs and down, inside and out, the wood work and plastering of 
the hotel has been scraped and painted. The carpets have been re- 
placed, the furniture renewed, and the service overhauled, so that every- 
thing is now fit for the entertainment of the best who may come there 
for hospitality and entertainment. The hotel in itself is very large and 
can accommodate such a number of people that when the harbor became 
closed and the railroads ran away with the greater part of Mobile's cot- 
ton trade, the building grew too large for the town. With the revival of 
Mobile's general business, however, and with the growth of the lumber 
trade and of truck farming, the prospect has brightened gradually but 
surely ; and at length to cap this happy climax, there comes a sudden and 
unexpected flow of Northern visitors hither— visitors who find Louisiana 
too damp and Florida too sandy and desert like. These discover that Mobile 
is the true and only tropic city in the Union, and are now coming hither 
in so great a crowd, that there already promises to be some difficulty ex- 
perienced in providing proper accommodations at this the principal 
hotel. Naturally where there is so much custom, there is a desire on the 
part of Mobile property holders to show an appreciation of the good for- 
tune showered upon them. The Battle House is the first to spread its 
wings to a new fiight, and it may be asserted that year by year it will be 
enlarged and improved until it will be cited by travelers as the best and 
most comfortable hotel in the Union. 



FROM THE ^VISITOR S POINT OF VIEW. 7 

Of course the overflow of visitors must And houses among the green 
shade trees of the jewel city of the South, and there have in consequence 
sprung up in the last few years a number of small hotels and first class 
boarding houses. When the best of food and the cosiest of lodging can be 
had for from twenty-five to forty dollars per head, per month, the trav- 
elers know they have found at last the place where they can get the full 
value of their money. 

Enough has been said on this subject however. Whole pages can be 
filled with such information, but the object of this pamphlet is more 
general in its nature. The visitor must be asked to continue his morn- 
ing's walk. 

Just opposite the Battle House is the granite Customhouse of the 
United States. It is an imposing structure, three stories in height and of 
the Etruscan style of architecture. Within is the post office, the money 
order and registration offices, and the customs and internal revenue 
ofiQces, all managed by polite gentlemen and efficient officers. The third 
floor is mainly devoted to the United States court and the clerks rooms. 
After inspecting this building and noting its many beauties, the visitor 
goes further down the street, passes the Western Union Telegraph 
office, the Telephonic Exchange, the Daily Kegister building, and the 
Mobile Board of Trade, and then turns to the right and enters the whole- 
sale quarter of the city. The first place of importance is the Southern 
Express office ; then comes the Cotton Exchange. Here he meets the 
foremost men of the city, and here, as in the Booms of the Board of 
Trade, the visitor may find every item of commercial and industrial in- 
formation properly prepared and kindly furnished by the polite secretary 
or his equally courteous assistant. 

Commerce street is ever busy. It is the forum of pork, corn, bran, 
oats, cowpeas, potatoes and cabbage. Here the rattle of the dray is 
ever heard, and the chow-chow of the mighty locomotive is never quiet. 
Up and down this wide and spacious street may be seen the enacting of 
the busy scenes of commercial life. This is the centre of Mobile's 
wealth, of her influence and of her grandeur. We go to the right, and 
turn into Dauphin street. We leave behind us the steaming cotton com- 
presses ; we abandon to the left the long rows of stately ships which lie 
at the wharves receiving cotton and lumber, and march straight up the 
street, passing store after store, occupied by merchants whose names 
are household words in Mobile. We pass across Boyal— having doubled 
on our track. We notice the beautiful and live oak embowered Bienville 
Square on the right. The Athelstan club house looks down upon this 
beautiful spot. Around the corner is the Manasses club, an organization 
of older heads. There also is the venerable Bank of Mobile, an institution 
founded nearly seventy years ago when Mobile was an extremely small 
but even then a promising town, having for its rival the pretty town of 
Blakely on the other shore of the bay— a town of which to day nothing- 
whatever remains, so completely have its fortunes died away. 

But why protract this stroll V There are other parks, there are other 
clubs, there are other banks. The most noted alone are mentioned by 
name. The visitor will not fail to ride out Dauphin way and, returning, 
come down the whole length of Government street. He can be prom- 
ised a view which is uniciue. Nothing like it exists in this country. 



AGRICULTURALLY SPEAKING, 



IT would be a pleasant experience but require much valuable time to 
go further in the tour of the city. There is much to see in the way of 
public parks, private gardens, smooth, well-shaded avenues, elegant 
residences and imposing buildings, erected for civil, religious, educational 
and correctional purposes. It may be said, by the way, that no city in 
the South is better supplied with ])ublic schools, public and private hos- 
pitals, more imposing county and port buildings and finer churches. It 
was Talmage who called Mobile "the City of Churches," and truly does 
the title ajiply. This branch of the subject must, however, be hurriedly 
and regretfully dismissed, the hope being expressed that time and space 
may be found later on for its consideration. 

The visitor is asked to go into the suburbs and surely, if he has the 
idea that the beautiful old city is asleep, he will find very soon that the 
idea is based upon fancy. Even in Mobile, the citizens have only lately 
awakened to the knowledge that they possess a source of almost inex- 
haustible wealth located at the door and ready to be taken up by those 
■who are courageous enough to make the proper venture. While they 
have been crying and wringing their hands, a class of scientific farmers 
has grown up in this neighborhood and performed a miracle, turned a 
desert into a paradise and filled their pockets with wealth, every dollar 
of which stays here, gives additional stability to the banks, and con- 
tributes to the prosperity of the place. 

If the visitor will go with the writer upon a short drive in the sub- 
virbs, he will find that every word of this statement is true. There every- 
thing is in a state of prosperity ; people live in new and handsome 
houses, have strong fences, excellent roads, broad acres, producing three 
and four crops per annum, thoroughbred stock, and, in fact, everything 
a farmer can wish. The trip wi'll take the visitor through a country 
where for miles and miles farm lies up against farm, leaving barely room 
for a roadway between, where cosy cottages crown the eminences, and 
sleek, well-fed cattle graze down in the meadows along the creek 
side; such a scene reminds one strongly of the arable land of southern 
England, and it is very difficult indeed to realize that this same land was 
a few short years ago covered with pine and chaparral and regarded as 
entirely unfit for cultivation. 

A journey of several days' duration would hardly suffice to make an 
inspection of this farming district which extends, crescent-shaped around 
to the north, west and south of Mobile. Let us, however, call upon and 
interview one of the practical farmers and learn what he has to say upon 
the subject. Who better for this than Mr. Cleve Prichard, who, after 
five years of industrious labor, has crowned his place with plenty and 
achieved a reputation as a successful farmer. Let us ask him why the 
country around Mobile has become so thickly settled with farmers. He 
replies : 

"The reasons are many and sufiicient. People can make money 



AGRICULTURALLY SPEAKING. 9 

here with less labor than any where in the United States. This is a 
fact. The soil is sandy with a clay subsoil about a foot and a half below 
the surface. This soil has all the ingredients necessary to the produc- 
tion of crops except phosphates, and these we supply by using cotton- 
seed meal. Properly dressed with this fertilizer, the soil produces much 
better than soil' esteemed natui'ally richer. Even the best bottom land 
soil cannot compare in productiveness with this land after it has been 
fertilized. 

"Then the climate is very favorable. We pay no attention to the 
threats of winter, but go on planting and harvesting tlie year ai'ound. 
We plant one crop, harvest it, and plant another, thus getting from 
three to four crops yearly from the same piece of ground. We are thus 
saved from failure also ; for if one crop does badly, we put in the other, 
and can always make expenses. Drouth liills one planting, perhaps, 
but it is just the thing for another; there is nothing that can happen 
which will prevent our making some crop or other. At the North this 
is not so. If a farmer loses his corn crop or his wheat crop there, he is 
done for. He cannot make another crop before winter. Here we sow, 
gather and plant, winter and summer, and the return is very valuable. 
There are farmers here from Ohio who say they can make ten times as 
much here as up in their country, and I have no doubt that they speak 
the truth. 

" Then again, our land drains naturally. After a heavy rain on these 
farms, the water sinks through the sandy soil until it reaches the clay 
and runs off that as off a shed into the ravines, and so quickly that 
within an hour the ploughman can go into the field and do a day's work. 
In other farming countries heavy rain puts a stop to ploughing for days 
at a time. Another great advantage we possess is the quantity and 
quality of the drinking water. It is cool, so cool that we never use ice, 
-and is plentiful. A well twenty feet deep taps the underground foun- 
tains, and from that time on you have enough water for yourself and 
whatever stock you may choose to keep. It is a great thing to have such 
an abundant supply of clear, cool and pure water. 

"As for business, it is flDurishing with us. We get our crops ready 
for the moment when we thinli the market will be most favorable. Some- 
times we miss it, but not often, and what we lose on potatoes we make 
up in cabbages. We ship to St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati and else- 
where, and get very remunerative prices for our truck. Cabbages, pota- 
toes, snap beans and tomatoes, are the chief products, while we raise 
corn and hay for our stock, all the vegetables we eat, besides hog meat 
and mutton. The most of the farmers hereabout are well to do, as well 
off as the people of their class in any part of the country. They have 
good horses and buggies ; their wives have their carriages ; their children 
go to good pay-schools, and they themselves have large cash balances in 
bank. You never hear of any of these men asking favors of the bank 
or of the merchants. They buy for cash and get the best of everything. 
Now what do you think of that? And the farms will not average more 
than twenty acres each. Does not that speak well for the productive- 
ness of the country? " 



MORE UPON THE SAME SUBJECT, 



RECENTLY a gentleman traveling: from Minnesota said he had 
asked everywhere two questions : Can a white man work in the field 
in theSonth? and, secondly, Will a Northern man be well received 
by the Southern people? He said that in reply he learned that white men 
can work everywhere in the South during the hottest weather of summer. 
The idea that the temperature of this region is so hot that no one but a 
negro can stand it, is not based on fact. To the second question he 
received but one answer : The people of the South need help to reap the 
full benefit of the agricultural and mineral resources of the country, and 
as it is a question of dollars and cents, the Southern people are too Amer- 
ican to take notice of a political difference of opinion. In the South 
there is but one political issue : the rule of the intelligent classes, and if 
a Northern man comes South to work, and not simply to try and rule 
the people by the aid of negro votes, he is sure to receive the most 
friendly greeting. The Southern people have a well-founded admiration 
for the Northern laboring man and farmer. Such an one has, generally, 
a good common school education, some knowledge of the science of 
farming, and, besides,. brings to his aid energy, love of order, truthful- 
ness and politeness. There are many such Northern men in the South 
and the Southern people want more of them. 

In this neighborhood are many large farmers who employ white 
labor almost exclusively. They find it higher in price than negro labor, 
but better in every respect. One farmer, in the writer's acquaintance, 
declares he will have nothing to do with the colored man, and that he 
must have white men from the Northwest or he will not be satisfied. 
These laborers come here without money and with very little but their 
honest intentions in the way of a recommendation. They go to work 
seriously and profit by their advantages. Presently an opening occurs 
and they become managers and then owners of farms. From that mo- 
ment their prosperity for the future is assured. It is not a question of 
long time either, for there are many such men here who are well-to-do 
in this business, and yet improved farming is a very new thing in this 
section. Ten years ago the scientific farmer was not known here at all. 
Of course, the man who brings capital and farming experience will suc- 
ceed more quickly, and in what manner and to what extent he will suc- 
ceed, can best be told by examining into the success achieved by those 
who have been the first to occupy the land. 

It will not be necessary to describe the farm house and pleasure 
grounds of Captain H.'s fine place on the Mobile and Ohio Eailroad, a 
few miles out of town. To come at once to the farm proper, there are 
some thirty-five acres which have for three years past been systemati- 
cally cultivated. A portion of this land has been opened and planted 
some six and a portion over ten years, but scientific principles have been 
applied during the three years only. The farm is cultivated with im- 



MORE UPON THE SAME SUBJECT. 11 

proved machinery, and time and labor saved thereby is almost sufficient 
to pay the first cost of the plant. 

Leaving the fields to the right and left, the visitor enters the barn- 
yard which is surrounded on all sides save one with buildings. One- 
building contains the feed room with grain bins and hay cutter, plough 
room filled with one and two-horse i^loughs, subsoilers, cultivators, ex- 
tension harrows, mowers, hay rakes, grain drills, and other large and 
useful agricultural implements. Another building is stored with har- 
ness, and still another building is a stable divided into a series of well- 
ventilated box-stalls for horses. Another house is for cattle, and yet 
another for forage, consisting of oats, millet and corn fodder, all baled. 
The mill for grinding feed for stock stands in the centre of the yard and 
next to the boi'ed well, with force pump and water troughs. A number 
of sheds, all floored, serves as protection for numerous wagons and carts. 
. Everywhere is to be seen the evidences of thrift and success in farming. 

A promenade through the orchards of peach, pear and pecan trees, 
and a run through the poultry yards where Light Brahmas, White Leg- 
horns, Games and Houdons thrive, each breed in a separate enclosure, 
brings the visitor to the fields, which surrounded by substantial and neat 
five-bar fences, and cultivated to the extreme of care and skill, are a joy 
to look upon. In one plat are oats, in another winter rye, to be used for 
grazing for cattle during the winter and early spring, while in still a, 
third is the second crop of Irish potatoes, now, in November, in process 
of being harvested. 

" It is naturally a poor soil," says the owner of the place. " Where 
you see oats and rye there was three years ago a worn-out peach orchard, 
filled with the stumps of the original pines. These I had taken out 
myself. I began by seeding down oats, giving about 1,200 pounds of 
fertilizer to the acre, consisting of 300 pounds of bone meal, 500 pounds 
cotton-seed meal and 400 pounds cotton-seed hull ashes. The oat crop 
was followed by cow peas which was turned under to give vegetable mat- 
ter, humus, to the soil. Next year oats again, fertilized as before, fol- 
lowed immediately by German millet, also fertilized, and this by cow 
peas, to be again turned under. Now the amount of fertilizer is being 
lessened for each hay crop, the peas furnishing enough for one hay crop 
alone. I thus bring up my land, adding stable and barn-yard manure 
as far as it reaches in aid of the peas and commercial fertilizers, so that 
I now get fine hay and corn crops, and get fine cabbages where, three 
years ago, oats would not grow without fertilizing six inches high. Of 
corn I made about sixty bushels to the acre, and of oats and rye about 
three tons of each to the acre. The cost of commercial fertilizers is now 
annually from $17 to f 18 per acre. 

"The average of this field of one-and-a-half acres of yams," con- 
tinued the Captain, "is five hundred bushels to the acre. Were all the 
rows to produce like the ten just in front of you, the average would be 
about six hundred bushels to the acre. Potatoes are worth now about 
fifty cents a bushel wholesale ; this is $250 to me now ; but, you see the 
potato banks near the store house V Each one contains forty bushels of 
the best of the crop, and there they will remain until I get my price, and 
my price is above a dollar per bushel." 



MOBILE AND HER RAILROAD FACILITIES, 



ALLUSION has been made in the introductory cliapter to the in- 
fluence the railroads had in changing the tide of trade and bringing 
a season of torpidity to Mobile. What this change amounted to can 
be but feebly described. Mobile's only competitor for the trade in the in- 
terior was New Orleans, and everything bought in that city had to pass 
a,nd pay toll at the water-gate of Mobile. The mail-line of steamers ran 
daily along the sound, and the hours of arrival and departure of the hand- 
some steamers were events in the local history of the place. Freight was 
piled house-high on the wharves, commissions were many and bulky, 
storage a handsome revenue and money was plentiful. This was not the 
sole source of wealth, of course. The rivers were filled with well-built 
and powerful side-wheel steamers, and the planters as far as 203 miles 
up each of the four streams and tributaries transacted all their business, 
and spent a great portion of their money in Mobile. After the war the 
tide of the trade surged higher than ever, and this people waxed fat with 
the wealth poured into their laps. But presently there came the steam 
trains and the locomotives. Mobile built two of the roads, and helped to 
build another. Suddenly she discovered that she was cutting her own 
throat, so to speak, and at once ceased operations in this direction. The 
capitalists and railroad builders came marching on, however, and soon 
Mobile found goods from New Orleans going into Alabama by rail and 
marked "through freight." At the same time the Eastern and Western 
lines cut across her rivers, and absorbed for inland towns and Northern 
ports the cotton and supplies trade which Mobile had always considered 
peculiarly her own. 

Then came the collapse of the enormous business. The mail-line 
•steamers were sent elsewhere, the wharves rotted down, the blocks of 
great wai'ehouses losts their tenants, the enterprising merchants moved 
to New Orleans and grass grew in the streets. The reaction was all the 
greater because of the suddenness of the downfall, and many citizens 
fled, influenced purely by the example of others. It was indeed the time 
to stand up in the mart and curse the railroads which had accomplished 
all this ruin— this sharp and bitter season of adversity. It was yet another 
example of the misery caused by the introduction of improved machinery. 
It would have been idle at that time to have suggested that the railroads 
would iiltimately confer a benefit many times the value of the trade and 
wealth lost by their introduction. What good to tell people sinking into 
poverty that after they were ground down the wheel, there would arise 
another and hardier generation which would ziiake Mobile a mighty city 
In the land. "What good will that do us ?" would have been the answer. 
They would have told you blandly that the railroads have ruined Mobile. 
It is the same cry the wool carders of England raised when steam and 
water power machinery was introduced into the mills of that country. 

The history of Mobile does not differ from that of any other place in 
this regard, and this is beginning to be realized by everybody, but the 



MOBILE AND HER RAILROAD FACILITIES. " 13 

few people above alluded to. The railroads have opened up the country, 
and reach into the vast iron and coal fields of northern Alabama and 
have at one stroke made Mobile the cheapest and best coaling station 
upon the Gulf of Mexico. It is true the roads have taken a third of 
Mobile's cotton business, but in this Mobile is suffering a little ahead of 
other Gulf ports, and is not suffering alone. The wise recognize that the 
cotton business of this country is seeking the shortest way to the north- 
ern and European markets, and that even New Orleans, must, in time, 
lose her cotton supremacy. In exchange for this so called "robbery," 
the railroads have given Mobile cheap and good coal, coal as good as 
that which cost from twelve to fourteen dollars a ton five years ago, and 
which now retails for five dollars and is put on board ships at four dollars. 
Coal will be profitably put on board vessels here at two dollars and fifty 
cents a ton during the next ten years. Take this fact in connection with 
the Isthmean canal and Eads' ship railway, and the full advantage 
Mobile will enjoy as the coaling port of the Gulf States is seen. This is 
not all : The Upper portion of the State is being peopled with iron men 
and new furnaces are being almost daily added to the list of those already 
established and coining money. Whatever enriches the people of 
Alabama enriches Mobile, Alabama's chief city. This will not be dis- 
puted. Given a State full of energetic workers, bread winners, the 
cities must reap the benefits. 

To bring the matter directly home, however. Mobile is triumphant in 
the new industry of truck farming. It has been shown that, by the aid 
of commercial and other fertilizers, the worthless pine lands of this State, 
and especially those supremely worthless lands around Mobile are made 
to produce luxurient crops of vegetables. Owing to geographical posi- 
tion. Mobile can always secure a handsome price for this truck in the 
Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago markets. In fact the people of Mo- 
bile, one and all, look to this new interest for their financial salvation 
and begin already to compare it favorably with the old time cotton busi- 
ness. It may be asked at this point: what would this truck business be 
without the aid of railroads ? How could these valuable resources be 
utilized without the assistance of improved machinery ? 

In fact it must be conceded that the same railroads which seemingly 
destroyed Mobile, are now the greatest factors in her present and future 
prosperity. It is a question of dollars and cents with the railroad corpo- 
ration and so long as there is a mutual interest, there will be a mutual 
agreement and accommodation. To descend into particulars, however, 
it must be noted, that the Mobile and Ohio railroad has placed its trains 
at the disposal of the truck farmers and has gradually built up such a 
business that the mighty Louisville and Nashville corporation has been 
compelled to turn its attention somewhat from the transportation of coal 
from the Alabama mines, and make extra exertions to capture some of 
this profitable vegetable freight. Both roads have now their vegetable 
stations, their vegetable cars and their fast freight trains to Northern 
markets, and both roads exercise wise caution in seeing that the busi- 
ness is transacted rapidly and carefully, and that every thing is done to 
satisfy those lords of creati,- n, "nature's gentlemen," the farmers. 

The ventilated vegetable and fruit cars are specially constructed 
lor the transportation of the perishable crops and are handled by 
efficient train men who have much experience in loading them both 




S 13 



MOBILE AND HER KAILROAD FACILITIES. 15 

^ promptly and securely. These freights are delivered in prime condition 

in St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati and intermediate 
places, and at so small a charge as to leave a handsome profit in the 
hands of the shipper. These fast freight trains are usually not more 
than twelve hours behind the express trains in reaching Cincinnati and 
St. Louis, and the shipper can count with considerable certainty upon 
the arrival of his consignment in market at the time desired. This fact 
permits him to consult prices current and market quotations and to se- 
lect the market for his various crops where he can get the best price. 
He is no longer at the mercy of a local merchant or subject to the exac- 
tions of commission men at distant points. He is well treated because it 
is known that he has the privilege of seeking his own market at his own 
time. In truth, the Mobile truck farmer is the most independent being 
on the face of the earth, and his independence has a solid basis of fact 
to support it. 

The following figures concerning freights have been furnished by 
the railroad managers to Mr. John 8. Elliot whose pamphlet upon 
"The Profits of Vegetable Farming in Mobile County," should be read 
by every one who looks with interest toward this southern country : 

Fast freight, car load of 22,000 pounds, in packages or in bulk, per 
hundred pounds of cabbages, potatoes, onions, melons, etc, 35 cents to 
Cincinnati, 30 cents to St Louis, and 40 cents to Chicago. Less than a car 
load 10 cents more per hundred pounds. Freight on cucumbers, squash- 
es, beets, etc., placed at 45 cents to Cincinnati, 35 to St. Louis, and 50 to 
Chicago, per hundred pounds. For less than a car load, 10 cents more to 
Cincinnati, same increase to St. Louis, and 15 cents more to Chicago. 
Freight upon tomatoes, green beans and peas etc, 60 cents to Cincinnati, 
50 cents to St. Louis, and 65 cents to Chicago. 

The tenderer varieties of vegetables, such as haye been last named, 
the tomatoes, beans and green peas, are generally sent by express and 
reach Cincinnati and Louisville twenty-eight and thirty-two hours after 
shipment. There are two express trains daily and the facilities offered 
are the very best. The rates are per hundred pounds, three dollars to 
Cincinnati, and two dollars and a half to Louisville, St. Louis and Chi- 
cago. Adjuncts of the railroads and express companies are the street 
railway lines which traverse the city and reach into the vegetable dis- 
trict on every side. These subsidiary lines are of great benefit to the 
farmer who thereby can easily and cheaply deliver his goods at the 
depots and stations. 



MOBILE A LUMBER CENTRE. 



ANOTHER new and growing interest in Mobile is the manufacture, 
sale and export of lumber and timber. As many as a dozen years 
ago there were very few mills in this eounty and these did little 
more than supply the local and near country demand for building mate- 
rial. Pensacola was recognized as the lumber port of the Gulf, and this 
was the result partly of the energy of Pensacola's merchants and partly 
of the good harbor and moderately practicable channel, while Mobile 
had no such merchants and very little, if any, channel ; being, in ad- 
dition, too busy watching her cotton business waste away, to turn the 
attention to the source of great wealth which lay within her grasp. 

As one industry shrank by force of circumstances, the monied men 
of Mobile noticed that there was growing up under their eyes another 
one in addition to the truck farming previously mentioned. Saw mills 
began to be erected here and there thi'oughout the section immediately 
tributary to Mobile, and log booms were to be seen lining the shores of 
the rivers and the large creeks. They knew what this meant. Over in 
Baldwin county, on the other side of the bay, they had known men to 
grow very rich by the use of such machinery, and they had heard that 
the ambitious and well-to-do town of Pensacola owes all her prosperity 
to industry of this sort. They enquired and found that Mobile was 
backed by an almost virgin forest of the best and most desirable yellow 
pine in the country— a wood that is sought after by ships and bridge- 
builders, by furniture-makers and by house-flnishers, showing the 
variety of uses to which it can be put. Moreover, they discovered that 
the swamps along the coast and back fi'om the rivers, contain cypress 
of the best quality— a wood which is almost everlasting, is white, hard 
and easily worked. For many styles of work it excels any other kind of 
wood. 

Seeing these things— -which were, of course, not entirely new, but 
were presented in a new light— the capitalists here got themselves into 
the line of march and profited by the gifts of nature. It will waste time 
to tell in detail of the progress of events. It is enough to say that the 
Mobile lumbermen and manufacturers have had no set back since the 
beginning. They have made more money some years than others, but 
have always made money. The number of mills has increased four-fold 
and a trade with foreign and northern ports has been built up which, 
though still behind that of Pensacola in size, is yet more reliable in its 
nature and more remunerative to the manufacturers. That this is cer- 
tainly so is shown by the fact that Pensacolians are turning their atten- 
tion in this direction, and one of Pensacola's richest lumbermen and 
ship owners will, this season, establish himself in this port and reap so 
much as he can of the benefits in store for him. The country is full of 
mills, and the product is sold as fast as manufactured. The fancy of the 
present turns more especially to shingle mills, the market beginning at 



MOBILE A LIIMBEK CENTRE. 17 

length to demand sawn instead of drawn shingles, and the demand being 
■so great tliat it can be supplied by improved machinery only. 

Now comes the practical question : What is offered to the reader of 
this pamphlet? The answer is that here are thousands of acres of un- 
occupied timber lands within three, five, ten and fifteen miles of railroad 
or navigable stream which are for sale at between one dollar and a half 
and five dollars an acre, and that these lands are covered with the variety 
of yellow pine timber most desired. The only reason land is so cheap is 
that there is so much of it. One firm purchased in July last 750,000 
acres in one lot, but this was a mere riffle on the surface ; the other tim- 
ber and lumber men were not shut out by such a gigantic operation. 
Even were they, the 750,000 acres are not occupied and no doubt the firm 
will sell such of the land as cannot, on account of the location of the 
firm's mills, be used by it. 

Land sales are common and especially to lumbermen of Michigan 
and Minnesota and the Northwest. The lumber supply of those regions 
is very nearly exhausted and a good site is worth from fifty to one hun- 
dred dollars an acre. What an opening hei'e presents itself when good 
well-timbered lands— lands which can be profitably cultivated, as hereto- 
fore shown — can be bought at prices ranging from a $1.50 to $5.00 an acre, 
and these lands located in a district easily reached and in close proximity 
to the market, both by rail and river ! The opportunity is so fine an 
one that the woods are quickly filling up with western and northern men. 
They say it is as good a thing as they want. They come, some without 
money and some with everything they can get together. The moneyless 
man comes and works as a timber getter or a turpentine distiller ; he is 
sure of his $1.50 a day from the start. His expenses are nominal. Lodg- 
ing costs him nothing, food is simple and cheap, while, owing to the 
mildness of the climate, clothing is but little needed and fuel not at all. 
The laborer can work all the year round, and can make by his exertions 
at least $200 more per annum than he could possibly make in a climate 
where the demands for fuel, clothing and stimulants are greater, and the 
interruptions of work by the elements more frequent. 

The rich man, the well-to-do lumberman, comes with money and 
friends. He has sold out his mill and machinery in Michigan, leaving it 
in the midst of a well used up tract, and here he is ready to establish a 
saw mill, in a spot where he will have to cut down $20 worth of trees to 
make room for his mill building. The change is refreshing, and, better 
still, it is more profitable than it looks to be at first sight. Tliere is 
plenty of testimony confirming this, but it will be proper to cite but one 
instance. Messrs. Stoutz & Bro., whose mills here have been greatly 
admired because of their compactness and availability, suffered the loss 
of the whole concern from fire. The firm was its own insurer. The 
writer met the head of the firm the next day after the fire, and expected 
to see him greatly distressed. Instead of complaining, he smiled, and 
said: 

" I have ordered a double sized plant of machinery this morning and 
am having plans for a new mill drawn up. It won't do to be idle when 
there is so much to be done. I am one man wlio believes in Mobile, and 
you can make a note that I back up my opinion by my act." 



THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UKION. 



HAVING spoken of Mobile's advantages by land, it is appropriate to 
turn the attention to her advantages by sea. Mobile, like New Or- 
leans, has been snatched from obscurity by the strong arm of the 
National Government ; like New Orleans, her pathway to the deep water in 
the Gulf was closed to deep draught vessels, and her lumber and cotton ex- 
portations had to be lightered twenty-flve miles down the bay to a point 
where the water was of sufficient depth to float the ships. She had only 
one advantage over Galveston ; the ships visiting the bay could anchor 
inside the bar and not be compelled to risk the storms outside ; but the 
wide and shallow bay between what is known the "Lower Shipping" 
and Mobile, was filled with deposits of clay and mud from the upper 
rivers, and no vessel drawing more than thirteen feet could, even at the 
highest tides, come to the wharves. It is not strange that the people of 
Mobile grew despondent. Cut off from interior trade by the east-and- 
west railroads, and shut out from the sea by an ever-increasing bar of 
mud, they naturally felt that the place was doomed and that the sooner 
they sought another home the better. 

It has been shown how the railroads became at length a blessing and 
not a curse; it has been shown how the immense resources of the State 
are being developed by the capitalists and the railroads of the vast 
monied corporations, and how every Alabamian and every Mobilian is 
thereby enriched and put in the position to increase his riches ; and it 
has been shown that what benefits the State at large most benefits Mo- 
bile. It remains now to show that the last obstacle to her advancement 
has been removed, and that Mobile's future prosperity. is assured. 

It will not be necessary to go into details. The National Govern- 
ment, upon the recommendation of the State's Senators and Eepresenta- 
tives in Congress, approi)riated several hundred thousand dollars for the 
digging of a canal or channel from Mobile to the deep water in the lower 
shipping. This work was begun four years ago and pushed vigorously 
and with such success that the new channel was declared open October 
one year ago. The cut is seventy yards wide, eighteen feet deep at low 
water and nearly twenty-three miles long. It is carefully staked and 
lighted, and can be used with safety by the largest vessels which have 
so far sought this port. The canal is dug through a kind of blue, sili- 
cious clay, which is tenacious in character and preserves the shape of 
the cut. The side walls of the cut are as firm and regular to-day as 
when first carved out of the surrounding deposit. The bottom, too, is 
kept scoured by the tides, and measurements show that there has been 
no fill any where throughout its length. 

The improvement will not stop here, however. There is another ap- 
propriation ready, and the United States engineers have planned to 
widen the channel to 200 yards. After this work is completed the third 
and last stage of the work will be performed. The widened channel will 
be deepened to twenty-two feet. To determine if a channel of this depth 




G TJ I. F ^ ' * O F 



M E X I C O 



i-AUre/V t-NO.C9 U'a:,lici,ylc,u,/J.C 



20 THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UNION. 

would maintain itself without artificial aid, a cut twenty-two feet in 
•depth was made in September, 1882. In his report made this Septem- 
ber, the United States Ens^ineer says of this experimental cut : 

"It was sounded October 2i, 1882, and again in June, 1883, an interval 
of about seven months. A comparison of these soundings showed less 
depth on the sides and ends of the cut with about the same average depth 
along the centre. The filling from the sides and ends was from the 
natural slope, but the cut showed no filling duo to other causes." 

The importance of these operations can be appreciated only by those 
who have lived in Mobile a length of time, and have seen the city fade 
away under the devastating hand of Isolation. Of course, there has not 
been a complete regrowth in a twelve-month, but there has been such 
improvement that the pro))het will have little trouble in correctly fore- 
casting the future, although he will bo unable to detine the limits of the 
coming pi'osperity. Here are the figures showing the immediate change, 
and it will be remembered that in the list of 1881 all the ships and barks 
and some of the brigs had to take their cargoes below the city at the 
" Lower Shipping," while all named in the list of 1882 came up to Mobile 
wharves and loaded at a trifling expense compared with that caused by 
the use of lighters. One large ocean-going steamship figures in the 1882 
list. That vessel drew seventeen feet six inches when loaded and going to 
sea. The list of 

VESSELS IN PORT DECEMBER 2-1 : 

1881. 1882. 

Steamships Steamships 2 

Ships 4 Ships 1 

Barks 13 Barks 8 

Brigs 3 Brigs 1 

Schooners 5 Schooners 12 

Total 25 Total 24 

Cleared for Mobile same date : 

Ships 3 Ships 5 

Barks 7 Barks 19 

Brigs Brigs 4 

Schooners 3 Schooners 8 

Total 38 Total 60 

This exhibits an increase of 22 vessels, and the channel had at that 
time been open two months only. A month later the list of vessels in 
port was greater by one half than that of vessels up and cleared. 

The channel is now deep enough to float vessels loaded with 5,000 
bales of cotton, and, perhaps, during the coming year even larger vessels 
will be able to enter this port. In addition to this improvement, the 
Port authorities and the merchants have made great reductions in 
charges, and Mobile to-day is not only the cheapest loading station in 
the United States, but is practically the only free port in this country. 
The only actual charge to vessels here is pilotage, and that is, in com- 
parison with the pilotage of New Orleans and other ports, very light. 



THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UNION. 21 

Let the figures be set down in detail— they will prove to be interesting 
reading: A vessel, say of 1,200 tons, drawing 12 feet entering, and 17 feet 
leaving port, pays, 

AT MOBILE, THE CHEAPEST PORT OK ALL : 

Pilotage not compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet draught, at §1 50 $51 OJ 

Outward, 17 feet draught, at $4 50 76 50 

Quarantine fees, not required in winter 

Wharf charges 0— $130 50 

XT WILMINGTON, DEL. : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $4 10 $49 92 

Outward, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50 

Wharfage, 20 days, at $2 25 45 00— $171 42 

AT SAVANNAH : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $5 50 $66 00 

Outward,. 17 feet, at 5 50 ;)3 50 

Wharfage, 20 days, at 75 15 00— $174 50 

AT PHILADELPHIA ; 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $4 GO $ 48 00 

Outward, 17 feet, at 3 00 5100 

Wharfage, 20 days, at 5 00 100 00— $199 00 

AT WILMINGTON, N. C. : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $5 50 $66 00 

Outward, 17 feet, at $5 50 93 50 

Harbor Master's fee 3 00 

Wharfage, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50— $239 00 

AT CHARLESTON : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $3 33.^ $40 00 

Outward, 17 feet, at $7 00 120 00 

Wharf charges, 20 days at $4 00 80 00 

State tax, amount not given — $240 00 

AT BOSTON : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $4 50 $54 00 

Outward, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50 

Wharfage, 20 days, at |c. per ton 120 00 

State tax, amount not given — $250 50 



22 THE ONLY FREE PORT IN THE UNION. 

AT NEW YORK : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $G 37 $76 44 

Outward, 17 feet, at $G 78 115 26 

Quarantine fee G 50 

AVharfage, 20 days, at ^c 120 00— $318 20 

AT NORFOLK : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet,. at $6 00 $72 00 

Outward, 7 feet, at $8 65 147 00 

Quarantine fee 3 00 

Wharfage, 20 days, at J $120 00 

State tax, 2i per cent 8 55— $350 55 

AT BALTIMORE : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet at $4 00 $48 00 

Outward, 17 feet, at $5 00 85 00 

Wharfage, 20 days at Ic. a ton 240 00 

State ta>:, amount not given — $373 00 

AT NEAV ORLEANS : 

Pilotage not compulsory but invariably accepted be- 
cause of the difficulties of navigating the river. 

Inward, 12 feet at $4 50 $54 00 

Outward, 17 feet, at $4 50 76 50 

Towage up and down the river 220 miles 80 00 

Quarantine fee 20 00 

Wharfage ISO 00— $410 50 

AND AT SAN FRANCISCO : 

Pilotage compulsory. 

Inward, 12 feet, at $5 00 $60 00 

Inward, 4c. per ton 48 00 

Outward, 17 feet, at $5 00, 105 00 

Wharf charges, 20 days, at $17 50 350 00— $503 00 

Comment upon these figures will not be required. The facts speak 
so strongly in favor of Mobile that there is no doubt that when they are 
sufficiently known the port will be crowded with vessels. It is the policy 
of the ])eople of Mobile, however, to extend welcome, and to offer 
inducements to shipowners to visit the port, and they hope that such 
treatment will be extended that all who come will long to return. The 
port is sure to become the coaling station for the gulf as well as the 
repair shop of all the vessels which sail the Southern waters. It is 
known that coal can be put down here in better quality, and cheaper, 
than at any point in the Union, and it is equally known that the marine 
ways and dry docks are of such capacity, and so economically managed, 
that the owners can underbid New Orleans and Galveston for all classes 
of work in their line. These facts account for the coaling of all the 
gulf-coast revenue cutters at this point, and, also, the sending of the 
cutter McLean all the way from Galveston to Mobile to have her hull 
and machinery repaired. 



COTTON AND WOOLEN MILLING INTERESTS. 



TH E interest in Soutliern cotton factories grows year by year greater 
and greater, and in no part of the United States do sucli enterpises 
flourisli so uniformly successful as in tlie States along tbe Gulf 
Coast. The remarkable example of the Eagle & Phoenix Mills at Co- 
lumbus, tends only to show that, under favorable circumstances and 
with wise management, cotton maaufacturing in the South is not only 
successful, but successful beyond any other milling industry either in 
this country or in England and France. 

It is well known as a fact that while even the most carefully man- 
aged mills in the New England States have been forced to shut down 
and some of them to close for good, owing to the conditions surrounding 
the business in that section of the country, there is not a single instance 
where a well handled, properly capitalized concern of this sort in the 
South has failed to make money. The dividends of Southern mills aver- 
age 14 per cent. Those of the New England mills, scarcely seven. The 
reasons for this are evident. The manufacturer is nearer the raw ma- 
terial, he is nearer his market, he enjoys the advantage over the New 
England mills of cheaper lands, of cheaper building materials, of longer 
working hours, of cheaper transportation of the raw material, of less 
loss of weight by handling of cotton, of lower prices, of a better oppor- 
tunity to select flrst-class staple, of a mild climate where factories can 
be run at a less expense the year round, and where there is less loss by 
reason of sickness of employes and interruption of business in con- 
sequence. The Southern labor, although unskilled, at first, is cheap 
and faithful. 

These advantages, which may as a general thing be said to belong to 
all the Southern States, are possessed to the greatest extent by the State 
of Alabama. One other advantage not named above is of special mo- 
meat — namely, the cheapness of the motive power. Since the successful 
working of the vast fields of Alabama coal, fuel has dropped from the 
extraordinary price of eleven to fourteen dollars a ton down to three 
dollars and a half to five dollars a ton, and is transported to almost every 
portion of the State by railroads radiating from the coal centre near Bir- 
mingham. Where coal cannot be easily obtained, there is an abund- 
dance of pitch pine, ash, oak and other fire wood. Better still, even 
when both coal and wood are abundant, the water ways of Alabama, es- 
pecially all through the southwestern portion of the State, provide mo- 
tive power which is cheaply handled, and at the same time inexhaustible. 

There have been several individuals and companies of individuals 
who have put these assertions to the test, and have embarked in the 
cotton manufacturing business in, and in the neighborhood of Mobile. 
Some of these have succeeded — notably the Cherokee mills, of Mr. L. F. 
Irwin— and some have failed, but in every instance the failures have been 
caused by a combination of inexperience and poverty. The people who 
undertook the manufacture of cotton goods in competition with the New 
England spinners, knew nothing whatever about the business, and were 







-^3 1 's--^ I ,r ■■■■ '' ''' ''' 



COTTON AND WOOLEN MILLING INTERESTS. 25 

at the mercy of the men they chose to run their business for tliem. 
Often the men so chosen were incompetent and visionary and soon had 
the enterprises well into debt. Then again, the amount of capital was 
always ridiculously small considering the work i)roposed to be per- 
formed, and unless a profit was made from the first turn of the wheel, 
the whole enterprise went by the boaixl. As a general thing, also, tlie 
enterprises were too small, the concerns too insignificant, to earn a 
respectable dividend, even if successful. No allowance was made for 
waste of time in getting the machinery u[) and to work ; no provision 
was made for the payment of expenses until the goods had found a place 
upon the market; no individual or individuals watched the small econ- 
omies and hunted for the small profits. It was in nearly every instance 
a game of the purest luck, with all the chances favoring failure at th& 
end of a few months. 

It is claimed that even the misfortunes of the Southern people who 
have engaged in cotton spinning serve to show where and how other" 
people can make a great deal of money. It is hardly necessary to repeat 
all the arguments. The intelligent reader will see them and feel their 
force. It is natural that cotton spinners should seek the place where 
the staple is produced. There alone, surrounded by the broad fields of 
fleecy cotton and backed by the forests of inexhaustible fuel, or the 
streams which give him many hundred times the power he needs, he 
will turn the fibre into yarn and cloth, and will grow rich while his 
Northern competitors are becoming involved in bankruptcy. 

The merits of this region for cotton milling are equally patent for 
woolen milling. The country is peculiarly suited for the growth of 
sheei>, and the finest wool can here be obtained at a rate which gives the 
Southern spinner a great advantage. Since the change in the tariff more 
than twenty-five Northern woolen mills have shut down, and these 
depressed industries cannot revive in that country. The only hope is for 
the capitalist to come South, where the expenses are much lighter and 
the raw material less costly. The wool comes from Alabama, Florida 
and Mississippi. The mills at Ulrnan, Miss., take about fifteen thousand 
pounds, and those at Wesson, a great deal more. More attention is paid 
of late to the quality of the wool, and wool is better assorted now than 
ever before. There is money in wool at eighteen and twenty cents, and 
the average price in this county is twenty-five cents, thus showing that 
there is a good profit for the sheep raiser, while the spinner can get the 
article at a price which permits him also to gain something. The wool 
industry in this and the adjoining State of Mississippi, is of older growth 
than that of vegetable farming, and has always been remunerative, 
owing to the character of the climate. Sheep sell at from $1.25 to $3.00 
a head, and a merino ram can be bought for $18.00. Any one who has 
anything to do with sheep can calculate the increase. The expenses, 
where sheep range at will, are very trifling, including only the cost of 
collecting them at shearing time, and the cost of shearing them and 
baling the fleece for market. The sheeii will range all winter. Of course 
where attention can be given them, and better food supplied, and pro- 
tection against cold wind and rain be afforded, the character of the flock 
will improve and the value be materially increased. As a general thing, 
however, the sheep receive very little attention, and the handsome profit 
made by the owner is almost all pure gain. 



OYSTERS AND FISH. 



ONE of Mobile's permanent and rising industries is tlie cultivation 
and sale of oysters. The original Mobile oyster is found upon shell 
banks and bars in the bay and is termed a " reefer." Bedsof these 
reefers extended in the times past up the eastern shore of the bay as far 
■as Howard's, and there are many now alive who have eaten bivalves 
taken from the u]n>er locality. It is only recently that the beds between 
Point Clear and Mullet Point have been exhausted. There are beds of 
varying quality and quantity at the mouth of Fish River, on the Eastern 
Shore, also near Collins' Bay, and between Dauphine and Mon Louis 
Islands. These beds of reefers are regarded by the oyster getters as 
practically inexhaustible. There are other and very rich beds in and 
about the waters of Chandeleur Island, off the Mississippi coast, 
" Reefers " are taken by two classes of people : the natives and the sloop 
owners. The former live along the bay and sound sbore and gather the 
oysters with rakes, and keep them for sale to such of the sloop owners as 
do not care to catch for themselves. Reefers are furnished to the sloop 
owners at prices which are governed by the market— generally at fifteen 
cents per box. The sloop men run down to the shell banks and lay off 
shore with signals flying to indicate the price they offer for "reefers." 
When a supply is obtained, it is conveyed either to the city and sold to 
dealers and shippers, or is taken into the flats of Bon Secour and Hei'on 
Bays, and planted in the mud. From this last process comes the ''plant " 
oyster, said to be the largest and finest oyster in the world. 

These planted oysters remains generally one season in the mud, at the 
•end of which time they have nearly doubled in size and delicacy. These 
" plants " are much sought after by the restauranteurs and bon-vivants 
of Mobile and New Orleans. The "reefers are of a fair size, some of 
them being as large as can be desired, but as a general thing they run to 
low grade and are sold at retail at 40 cents a hundred, while "plants" 
bring from a dollar ten to a dollar twenty-five cents. Around each 
goodly sized lolant oyster clings a number of smaller oysters, and these 
.are called "cuUings" and are classed with the "reefers," although they 
bring retail some twenty cents per hundred more than the "reefers," 
and cullings form the bulk of the shipments from Mobile to Northern 
<?ities, although, of course, not a few of the finest plants find their way 
to all ])oints of the compass. 

The figures in dollars and cents which give an accurate idea of the 
extent and growth of this industry, are : 

1881-'82. 1882-'83. 

Plant oysters , $ 30,000 $ 50,000 

Reefers and Cullings 81,000 100,000 

Total $111,000 $150,000 



OYSTERS AND FISH. 27 

This is an increase greater than the total value of the shipment of 
*' plants" in 18Sl-'82, and the oyster men say that this is but an indica- 
tion of what will be done in this line. The quality of the bivalve is such 
that it makes friends everywhere, and the demand has so much increased 
this fall that it is evident that the very heavy plant made last season will 
BOt be sufficient to supijly it. The oyster men are therefore forced to 
•g-reater activity, and believe the business will double itself during the 
next ten years. 

Oysters are shipped from Mobile to Louisville, St. Louis, Cincinnati, 
■Chicago, Little Rock, and other places, besides New Orleans. In those 
■cities the sign " Mobile Oysters " is displayed to attract custom. These 
bivalves are compared very favorably with the celebrated "Saddle 
Rocks," and have to a considerable extent,— but particularly in the 
l¥estern and Southwestern States— taken the place of Baltimore canned 
-oysters, for they are, as a rule, even the worst, larger, and more presentable 
than those from Maryland's chief city. In the summer or hot season of 
fall, oysters are put up here in cans containing from fifty to five thousand, 
^nd are sent by express. In cold weather they are shipped as freight in 
bulk. The business is lucrative, and a great number of people are em- 
ployed in it to the advantage of Mobile and the comfort of lovers of the 
salty shell fish. 

Visitors to Mobile from the North and West, and drummers from all 
the States, who travel this way, never fail to notice and remark the ex- 
cellence of the Mobile fish. Pensacola some few years ago began to 
ship fish in refrigerator ears to Western cities, and to-day where red fish, 
groupers, Spanish mackerel and pompano are for sale, they are enquired 
for where fine fish is wanted. Mobile's fish trade is young. During 
1881-'82 the sales aggregated $iG,500, and during 1882-'83 $9l),000. The 
wholesale fish dealers find ready sale for their fish in New Orleans, the 
most of which they shii^ to that city. The fish are bunched and shipped. 
in bins or casks. The fish brought here are the same species as those 
shipped from Pensacola. 

The nearest fishing bunks to Mobile are just outside of Fort Morgan, 
They extend thence easterly IGO miles along the coast of Alabama and 
Florida to St. Andrews bay. There are at present seventeen smacks 
cp,tching fish for jMobile. The cre^s on each smack average about seven 
in number. On each smack is a well or pen of lattice work in the bottom 
■of the boat. The pen is always flooded with sea water. The fish are 
thrown into the well when caught and are brought alive to the city. 
The carrying capacity of the smacks is from 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of 
fish. 

The red snapper, crouper, and Spanish mackerel are deep water fish, 
and are caught with a hook. These fish bite all the year round. The 
pompano is a beach fish and is caught with a seine during April, May, 
June, July, October, November and December. Captain Ben, an old 
fisherman, says he has seen two thousand pompano caught at one haul- 
ing of the seine. Ten days is the average time for a smack to go to the 
banks, catch a load and I'eturn to the wharves. The owners of the boats 
in the fish business, genei'ally speaking, take no active part in the catch. 
They hire the smacks to a crew for foity per cent, of the fish caught. 

Both Mobile and Pensacola boats fish on the same banks, which are 



28 



OYSTERS AND FISH. 



as easy of access from this place as from Pensacola. This fact, consid- 
ered in its relation to the great fish-cat chiny and shii)i)ins business of 
Pensacola, is an assurance that Mobile can, and, no doubt, will greatly 
extend its participation in this profitable vocation. It is well known 
that the supply of flsh is inexhaustible, and that the quality and variety 
guarantee an immediate sale. With excellent rail communication with 
the West, with the Northwest and the Northeast, there is no reason why 
Mobile should not outstrip all other gulf ports in this business. The 
immense increase during the last year, amounting to one hundred per 
cent., indicates what is being done in this direction. 








U. S. MARINE HOSPITAL, 



MOBILE AS A HEALTH RESORT. 



"O B I L E is on a plain shut in by slight hills at her back, washed by 
Mobile river and bay at her front, and fanned by the tempered 
-*^^^ breezes of the Gulf stream. The diadem of this City of the 
Gulf is her pretty bay, looking out to the limitless sea. Its shores are 
varied ; here precipitous, showing deep and red bluffs crowned by lofty 
pines; there low and sandy beached, with crystal streams rushing to 
their resting place in the sea, and with heavily moss-laden cypress, bay 
and magnolia trees making a tropical shade ; and yet again, in nooks 
shady and wet, and altogether attractive to the mailed alligator and the 
succulent terrapin. On these shores vineyards of scuppernong and 
orange groves are found thrifty and pleasant both to eye and palate. 
Figs yield their sweet fruit generously, and flowers are always in bloom, 
while even the banana produces its golden fruit at times there. 

The city itself, from its abundance of various trees; its beautiful 
gardens at all seasons in bloom and abounding in semi-tropical plants ; 
its antiquated styles of building ; its quiet and noiseless streets, and its 
broad avenues is always captivating to the stranger. Then, to these, if 
we add the quiet hospitality, courtesy, and refinement of its people, it 
becomes a truly lovely one to the visitor. 

Within a few miles of the city lies Spring Hill, at an elevation of 
some two hundred feet, a lovely suburban village, where, before and 
since the war, wealth and elegance have been wont to dwell. This 
is easily reached every two hours by a horse-car, which also carries 
out daily mails. From its elevated plateau the garden lands between it 
and the city, the city itself, the beautiful bay, and the heights of the 
"Eastern Shore" may readily be seen as a map spread before the ob- 
server. This village is on the eastern edge of the plateau which reaches 
from the elevated country southerly to the very border of the bay and 
gulf, a continuation of the great Appalachian range. It has for more 
than a half century been noted for the salubrity of its location and its 
peculiar healthfulness, and was very early the resort of the wealthier 
during the summer months ; but, soon having been carefully laid out, 
became their permanent home. Delightful residences surrounded by 
lovely gardens abound. Here, also, the Catholic brethren located their 
college, which has earned a high reputation. 

On the line of the Mobile and Ohio Eailroad are to be found many 
stations within thirty-three miles of the city near which are some most 
pleasant resorts. Thirty-three miles from the city, at the terminus of the 
accommodation train, lies Citronelle, at an elevation above the sea of 360 
feet, within a few feet of being the most elevated point on the entire line 
between the Ohio and the Gulf. A resident of a Northern clime in 
search of health, and who had tested the virtue of many places in other 
parts of the South, and also those of San Antonio, Texas, and having expe- 
rienced more beneficial results from his residence in Citronelle during 



MOBILE AS A HEALTH RESORT. 31 

the winter of 1881, than in any of these, bought a home at Kushla, ta 
which he could regularly resort when the inclemencies of his own 
climate made it necessary, and thus lengthen out his days, perhaps, to 
the usual span. On the eastern shore of the bay are found most agree- 
able villages previously mentioned, which are resorted to during the 
summer by the inhabitants of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, for 
the advantages resulting from the sea bathing and the balmy breezes of 
the Gulf which sweep unobstructed over the placid waters of the bay. 
At each of these are many families who continue their residences during 
the winter. 

The western shore is not so attractive, because the lands lie lower, 
though still covered with the forest pine. Yet, here are many beautiful 
places; and on this shore are many quite old and extensive orange 
groves, which have been for years productive of large incomes to the 
owners. Many small rivers empty into the bay on this side, which 
abound in fresh-water fish, while those whose habitat is the salt water 
are to be obtained from the bay. The Louisville and Nashville Kailroad 
partially skirts this region, and on its way to New Orleans traverses this 
high and dry region, where are some pretty stations, which are reached 
by trains twice each day, and also an accommodation train. 

Dr. William H. Anderson, one of the oldest and most esteemed 
physicians, of very extensive practice. Professor of Physiology in the 
Medical College of Alabama, late President of the Medical Association 
of the State of Alabama, and the State Board of Health, First Vice 
President of the American Medical Association in 1880-'81, &c., in a 
pamphlet published last year in relation to the health of the loca- 
tion, gays: 

" There ai-e many chronic diseases that are positively benefitted by 
the balmy air that blows from this tropical sea. It has Ions? been known 
that the iodine and bromine vapors, wdiich are floating in the atmosphere 
of the Gulf of Mexico, are powerful tonics to the system. Although they 
exist there in almost inflnitessimal quantities, still they are invigorating 
and have a healthful effect on the system. The fact, too, that this 
atmosphere is entirely free from malaria in any of its foxmis, gives to salt 
air in winter the tonic properties which we lind in the mountain atmos- 
phere in summer. There is no better way to drive malaria out of the 
system than to go to the seashore and breathe its healthful atmos- 
phere. In summer the Atlantic coast is resorted to for this purpose, and 
its numerous watering places are filled to overflowing; but in winter 
there is no accessible point on the Atlantic to which a malarial invalid 
can go, where the breeze is not too strong and too chilly for him to be 
exposed to it. On the Gulf coast this is not the case. The wind there 
is never cold, unless for a few hours after a northerly gale, when the 
cold north wind is driven back by the tropical breeze ; as soon, however, 
as the regular sea breeze sets in, the atmosphere is balmy, healthful and 
delightful. 

" The curse of northern and western cities and towns is malaria. To 
have the blood infected with its poison is the forfeit which the luxurious 
citizen must pay for the sensuous gratification afforded by the high 
degree of civilization that reigns in opulent cities. Contamination of the 
atmosphere is part and parcel of dense populations. No city corpora- 
tion has either the wealth or the appliances to keep up a thorough system 




MEDICAL COLLEGE OF ALABAMA. 



MOBILE AS A HEALTH EESORT. 33 

of sanitation, and the consequence is that the inhabitants mvist live in 
an infected atmosphere, and suffer accordingly. Every inherited and 
acquired disease has, therefore, an enfeebled constitution to work upon, 
and the natural limit of human life is correspondingly shortened. In 
the latter part of summer and the early autumn, malaria contains its 
most concentrated poison, and winter, Avith its rude and cutting blasts, 
comes on an enfeebled constitution, which must give way in the battle 
for life. Thousands of delicate persons, who have stood the rest of the 
year well, now begin to complain, to lose appetite and bodily vigor, and 
to shut themselves up from the rough winds of the season. This close 
confinement serves only to make matters worse, and by December or 
January the early symptoms of pulmonary consumption begin to show 
themselves, and the family physician, powerless to do any good with 
medicine, advises a change of climate, where exercise in the open air can 
be had, and where malarial poison does not exist. 

" Where, then, can these unfortunates And a comfortable, agreeable, 
and healthy region? Where can they seek a temporary residence, where 
they will be out of a malarial district, and still in a climate mild enough 
to be in the open air the greater part of the time? It is my opinion that 
such a climate and surroundings exist on the Gulf coast, and exist no- 
where else on the American continent. I am aware that many parts of 
the southern country hold forth inducements to invalids from the colder 
latitudes, and thousands flock to Florida every winter. But these resorts, 
although furnishing the requisite temperature, cannot boast of that 
freedom from malaria for which the coast of the Mexican Gulf is justly 
noted. What is wanted by such invalids is a dry, sandy soil and a mild 
southern sea breeze. These requisites are found in the city of Mobile 
and its vicinity to a greater extent than they can be found anywhere else, 
either in this country or on the shores of the Mediterranean. Already a 
number of Western people come to our city during the winter and early 
spring, and if the facts in the case had been widely known, the Gulf 
coast would, for the last few winters, have been more crowded with vis- 
itors than Florida itself. 

"For consumptive patients, however, exercise in the open air, in a 
location free from malaria, is all-important. The atmosphere of a city 
mansion with closed windows and doors, is a positive poison that aggra- 
vates any disease. It is far better to live in a canvas tent, if the outer 
air is mild enough to allow it, than to remain shut up in a house. The 
blood wants free oxygen, and it cannot get it in a closed apartment- 
Now, I claim for Mobile and its vicinity this advantage, that the patient 
can be out in the open air nearly every day during the winter and spring 
season. If this open air, therefore, is mild and not poisoned with ma- 
laria, it fulfils all the indications necessary for consumptives. The very 
nature of the soil at and around Mobile is opposed to the generation of 
malaria. The city is built on a sandy soil, and no matter how heavy a 
rainfall may be, it disappears in a few hours and sinks so deeply in the 
earth, that it is far out of reach of the sunshine or of any other cause 
favoring the generation of malarial poison. The same sandy soil reaches 
from four to six miles north and west, and then culminates into hills from 
two to three hundred feet high. Springhill, the nearest of the range, is 
six miles from the city, and is the site of many country residences. The 
health of this location is proverbial. During forty years I have never 



34: MOBILE AS A HEALTH RESORT. 

known a case of malarial fever to originate at Springhill. In fact there 
is nothing there to produce it. The water is of the purest tiuality ; the 
growth is exclusively pine, and the subsoil is white sand for one hundred 
feet beneath the surface. 

"What has been said of climate, as regards consumption, will also 
apply to other chronic diseases of the chest. Bronchitis is a very gen- 
eral ailment in the North and Northwest in the winter season. It is 
almost impossible to cure it when the patient is daily exposed to the 
rude blasts of the North. No amount of warm clothing will keep the 
cold air from affecting" the system. It must be drawn into the lungs, and 
there the air, at a temperature of 10 to 2) Fahr., suddenly comes in con- 
tact with a delicate inflamed membrane with a temperature of 98 to 
100 c. How is it possible, then, that the latter should not suffer? Va- 
rious devices have been used to soften the air by drawing it through 
woolen cloth placed over the mouth, and sometimes substituting for this 
a net work of fine wire, which being warmed by the exhaled air, would 
heighten the temperature of the ingoing breath. But these have little 
effect. All physicians know that they are poor substitutes, and that 
they retain the poisonous volatile animal matter of exhalation, and 
give it back again with the air that is inhaled. For these reasons 
Southern climates in winter act favorably on bronchitis. Another good 
effect produced by residence in a Southern climate during the harsher 
seasons, is that the mild atmosphere assists the action of remedies which 
are often required in chronic bronchitis. It is through the sldn that 
some of the most important of these remedies act ; and the more tempe- 
rate the climate, within certain bounds, the more active are the cutaneous 
exhalations. So mild is the temperature in Mobile and on the Gulf 
coast in winter, that several days together are often passed without the 
necessity of lighting a fire. These mild spells of weather may be spent 
by invalids in the open air, where, in addition to the grateful sunshine, 
the moral effect of the rich foliage and the gay flowers of winter, insures 
that restorative influence which the mind always has over the body. 

"In this short sketch we cannot ])articularize all the diseases that 
are benefited by a residence in a Southern climate during winter. We 
must mention, however, the benign effect of a soft climate on chronic 
affections of the skin. The writer has known cases of Eczema and 
Psoriasis of forty years' standing, to be appai'ently cured by a continued 
residence of twelve months consecutively in Mobile. Persons ai¥licted with 
chronic rheumatism, or those who are subject to frequent acute attacks 
of this malady, will pass a much more comfortable winter on the Gulf 
coast than in the cold windy'regions of the Northwest. For many years 
past the writer has had cases of chi'onic rheumatism frona the North 
under his professional care, and he can state from observation that in 
the great majority of cases decided amelioration took place, and the 
patients themselves declared that they experienced a inuch more com- 
fortable existence than they had during the winter months at their homes. 
This, however, might be expected in a climate where the mean winter 
temperature is many degrees higher than it is in northern latitudes. 
The mild sea breeze is always favorable to rheumatic patients even on 
the Atlantic coast. The advantage liere being that the sea air is always 
mild and invigorating. Chronic rheumatism is nothing like so frequent 
on the immediate Gulf coast as it is in the interior of Alabama and Mis- 



MOBILE AS A HEALTH RESORr. 



35 



■sissippi, and this is tliought to be owing to the bromine and iodine 
vapors always floating in the atmosphere of the Gulf. 

"It wasthe opinion of the late Prof. J. C. Nott, whose honesty of 
purpose and critical acumen were never doubted by those who knew him, 
that the Gulf coast is the healthiest portion of the United States, and is 
particularly adapted to the amelioration of many diseases, made worse 
\)y passing the winter and early spring in northern districts. Certainly 
lew men were as competent to judge in such matters as himself. A resi- 
dence of forty years in Mobile, with a reputation spreading over the 
entire Union, brought to his notice many sufferers from the North, who 
■sought his medical aid during their winter sojourn in the South. The 
eminent Dr. Warren Stone, of New Orleans, shared the same opinion," 




SPRING HILL COLLEGE. 



36 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Mobile, September 9, 1883. 
Jones Hilbreth, Keokuk, Iowa : 

Yours, of August 26th, asking about farming, stock and prices is 
received. Answer that Texas ponies and horses are used for lighter classes 
of work, for hauling spring wagons and buggies, or for riding. They 
can be bought, unbroken, for from $25 to $50, or broken, from $50 to 
$100. Tlie plough animal for this region is the Kentucky or Tennessee 
mule, which is sold according to the demand at from $125 to $250. A 
good, well-brolien and strong mule of medium size, can usually be pur- 
chased for $150. Draft Oxen bring from $50 to $80 per yoke. Owing to 
the mildness of the climate and the length of the grazing season, the cost 
of supporting draft animals is much less than in the northern section of 
the country. 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, September 7, 1883. 
Henry S. T. Coburn, Charlotte, North Carolina : 

Dear Sir — Yours, of August 29th, asking a statement of quantity of 
fertilizers used and price of the same. Would say that fertilizers are 
used liberally and with good result. Cotton-seed meal varies in price 
from $20 to $26 a ton, while bone dust runs something above $40; there 
are still costlier fertilizers, but cotton-seed meal is mostly in favor. It is 
used at the rate of a ton and a half to the acre for cabbage, which is the 
greatest absorbent of this enricher of the soil. Potatoes, beans, peas, 
tomatoes, etc., take varying quantities, usually less than is required for 
the proper cultivation of cabbage. By the substitution of formulas 
like that of Mr. Furman, the cost of fertilizers can be decreased at least 
one-half. Eespectfully, 

Foe the Committee. 



Mobile, September 3, 1883. 
Mr^. Sampson Lowell, St. Paul, Minnesota : 

Dear Madame— In answer to your question regarding day laborers 
and their work, would say that day laborers are usually in the field from 
sunup till sunset with an hour's rest midday in winter, and from an hour 
and a half to two hours' rest in the summer. The pay ranges according 
to the capacity of the laborer, but is usually sixty cents to a dollar a day 
and he finds himself. When hired by the month the laborer receives 
twenty dollars, or if of superior intelligence and can manage a gang of 
men, thirty dollars. 

For the Committee. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 37 

Mobile, September 9, 1883. 

3Ir. Henry Jaenisch, St. Johnaburg, Vermont : 

Dear Sir— Your remarks concerning? vegetable farming in Vermont 
are interesting, and one can easily see why you long to do business in a 
less vigorous climate. As to quantity and prices of truck, would say that 
upon an acre of ground four thousand merchantable head of cabbage 
can be grown, which will be sold usually at the rate of $8 per hundred, or 
$320. The cost is about $100, which includes taxes, day labor, seed, and 
fertilizer; therefore the profit is in the neighborhood of two hundred 
dollars. Potatoes will bring 50 barrels at $3 to the acre, and will cost 
$50, leaving a net profit of one hundred dollars. On tomatoes the profit 
will be at least $140. Beans bring in net one hundred dollars. These 
are samples of what is being done by the vegetable farmers in this 
region. Eespectfully, 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, September 9, 1883. 
W. H. Brown, Maxatanny, Fennsylvania : 

Dear Sir— You say send you information about manufacturers and 
machinists, but you must be more exact. What in particular do you 
want to know about them? In general way would say that the manufac- 
turers and machinists here rank higher than those of any other Gulf 
port ; their work is looked upon as sui)erior to that of New Orleans, and 
the reputation of the port in this regard is rapidly increasing. With 
iron and coal within reach, and a good ship channel to the Gulf, Mobile 
is bound to become, and is becoming, an iron manufacturing and 
machine-making town. We regard it as a good thing for the enter- 
prising man to examine into these things and see whether he cannot 
"better himself by coming to this fresh and promising mineral region. 
A circular is sent herewith. Another will be sent shortly. Will be 
pleased to answer any other questions. 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, August 26, 1883. 
Fred. W. Farr, Esq., Chicago, Ills.: 

Dear Sir — Yours 20th received, asking the prospects of employment 
as an accountant or book-keeper. In answer will say that while there 
is an evident plethora of book-keepers here, a smart and active man, 
sober and honest, can find work here, but owing to the numbers of this 
class now present the salaries are low. It is hoped that in the coming 
season, with the increase that is promised in every class of business here, 
that the demand will be stronger. There may be vacancies, and mer- 
chants and railroad companies may want good men, but you know it is 
against their policy to advertise the fact. The only way to test such a 
matter is to make a personal application. Address Col. G. Gordan, vice- 
president Mobile and Ohio road here, or A. C. Danner, of Danner Land 
and Lumber Company, this city. Salaries range from $800 to $l,-400 per 
annum. KespectfuUy, 

For the Committee, 



38 CORKESPONDENCE. 

Mobile, September 9, 1883. 
Geo. G. Duij, Esq., Cooperstown, Neir York : 

Dear Sir— In answer to yours of 2Sth ult., would say that there are 
seventeen feed and commission firms here, but bullc of business is con- 
ducted by four or five of this number. Tliere is always a s'oocl demand 
for flour in tliis vicinity and within one and two hundred miles radius, 
in three directions. The demand for feed depends greatly upon the result 
of the food crops the planters make. It has been customary to ship from 
here 300 and more car loads feed per month, but last year a large crop 
of small grain was made in the South, and the shipments fell off ta 
about 30 car loads. The grain and feed crop is short this year, and com- 
mission men look to an increase of business. 

These merchants seem to have enough capital to carry on their busi- 
ness. There is always room for more capital if the owner manages it 
himself. By a system of advances to cotton factors, such a capitalist- 
could build up a paying business. KespectfuUy, 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, August 26, 1883. 
Harvey Booth, Esq., Tarrijtoioi Pottery, N. Y. : 

Dear Sir— Yours 2'2d received, asking what are prospects of estab- 
lishing a pottery for making general class of goods. In answer, say 
that Alabama possesses some rare varieties of porcelaine, fire and pot- 
tery clays, concerning which Dr. Charles Mohr, of this city, will be glad 
to give you exact information. A first-class manufacturer, and good 
manager, can doubtless make a good thing of this business here, and if 
he can show that he has the requisite ability, money can be found here 
to back the enterprise. We will make further enquiries and write you 
more at length. Send a health circular to you and will send a business 
circular as soon as it is printed. 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, August 26, 1883. 
W. C. Woodivorth, Esq., Box 36, Marshalltown, Marshall County, Iowa: 

Dear Sir— Yours 21st received, asking general information. I send 
circular, which will give an idea of the sanitary location of Mobile. Will 
send another circular concerning business prospects as soon as it is 
printed. Men from the North speak of Southern Alabama as more 
pleasant in the winter than Florida. A good, comfortable residence will 
cost about three thousand up to six thousand dollars. A good farm with 
house and outbuildings, about from twenty to one hundred dollars an 
acre. Other lands from five to twenty-five dollars. Pine lands range 
from $1.50 to fifteen dollars. Those nearest navigable streams have been 
pretty well cut over, but there is a great deal of fine pine land left which 
sells remarkably cheap. Address on this subject, the Danner Land and 
Lumber Comjiany, Mobile. There are good pine lands for sale within 
five miles of the railroads and at reasonable jirices. 

Respectfully, 

For the Committee. 



40 CORRESPONDENCE. 

Mobile, September 9, 1883. 
Mmer F. Walker, Jameatown, N. ¥., P. 0. Box 10G4 : 

Dear Sir— xiccompanying this is a liealtli circular concerning Mobile 
which will give you a part of the information you wish. Will send 
another circular shortly. As regards house painting there is no great 
demand for ornamental inside workers, because Mobile is yet in the 
utility stage, as far as house decorations are concerned. A good house 
painter can find employment here, sometimes at the best wages, which, 
of course, depends upon the ability of the workman. During the last 
eight months there has been an unusual revival in the business of build- 
ing" and repairing houses, and it is learned that the demand for good men 
is stronger than it has been for years. More particular information will 
be given if you will put the questions. Kespectfully, 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, September 9, 1883. 
Wm. Ch'im, Esq., Keyser, Mineral Co., West Vtrgbda : 

Dear Sir— Yours of the 3d, calling attention to your lots in the Man- 
deville district, near the Fair Grounds, received. Will look into the 
matter. Think they may be well situated for the cultivation of truck— 
an industry which has increased with astonishing rapidity here. Will 
see what is in the land and will inform you. Very probably here is a 
good opportunity for a progressive farmer to get a well-located place, 
although it seems your property is of limited size. Respectfully, 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, September 12, 1883. 
Mr. C. Neivkirk, 2,322 Broadwan, Cleveland, O.: 

Dear Sir— Population of Mobile by census of 1880, 31,205. Population 
now about 35,000. Several well located stores are to be had. Rent from 
$300 up to $2,500 per annum according to location. A six room house as 
residence can be rented for $250 to $300. Eight rooms $300 to $450. The 
health authorities have for a number of years succeeded in keeping 
yellow fever out of Mobile, although during these years the disease has 
broken out on either side of the city, at New Orleans and at Pensacola. 
The citizens do not regard the fever as one of the possibilities of life in 
Mobile. Thei'e is every facility for getting ice, both natural and manu- 
factured at $10 per ton. There are six confectioneries in Mobile. There 
is but one prominent ice cream and fancy cake and confectionery here. 
You can draw your own conclusion. Respectfully, 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, Septerc ber 14, 1883. 
Frank McAneny, Mnrtinsburg, Berkeleij County, Went Va.: 

Dear Sir— Yours of 7th received. As regards cost of living in this 
section would say that good, that is, first-class board and lodging can be 
had here for $30 a month. Less rates can be obtained, higher also, if 
desired. Housekeeping is perhaps cheaper. Fuel is needed about 



CORRESPONDENCE. 41 

thirty-five days in the year. Thick wraps are not needed. Send circu- 
lar relating to the general health of Mobile. 

Concerning railroad employment, would say that the companies 
doing business here follow the excellent plan of promoting for faithful 
service. A man of large experience may rise faster than the routine man, 
but his case will be the exception. Your chance of employment upon 
one of the new roads are better than any other. Will be pleased to 
answer more exact questions than are contained in your letter. 
KespectfuUy, 

For the Committee. 



Mobile, September 12, 1883. 
James KitcMe, Jr., Montreal, Canada, 31 German street: 

Dear Sir — Our machinists say they have done more work this year 
than in any year for a decade. This will give you an idea of the situa- 
tion. The opening of the Alabama iron and coal mines has given a great 
impetus to the iron manufacturing business here, and a great increase is 
taking place. We have, besides, the railroad shops here. The marine 
repairs are also quite an item. A good man makes from $2.00 to $4.00 a 
day. The shortest way for you is from Montreal, via Kingston and To- 
ronto to Detroit, thence via Toledo and Columbus to Cincinnati. From 
Cincinnati you can come through without change,' via Louisville, Nash- 
ville, and Montgomery, to Mobile. We send a circular concerning Mobile. 

EespectfuUy, 

For the Committee. 



42 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



A. C. BANNER, President. 
L. E. BEOOKS, Land Commissioner. J. C. STRONG, Sec'ty & TreasY. 



3anner Land and Lumber 



3^FJ^3Sr"Y", 



-SrCCESSOK.S IN THK- 



Lumber, Timber, and Pine Land Business, to A, 0. Banner & Co., 

Whose credit has been untari:ished and whose business has increased 

year by year since the establishment of the firm, in 1868. 



Banner Land and Liml)er Company, 

OF MOBILE, ALABAMA, 

Incorporated under the Laws of tte State of Alabama, Aug- 1, 1883, 
Own and control some 800,000 Acres of Long Leaf Pine Land. Will sell 
Lands or Timber Rights. Will furnish Mill sites and Timber to respon- 
sible Mill Owners. 



LUMBER. 



We own and control four good Saw Mills, constantly cutting Long 
Leaf Pine Timber into lumber. We have Planing Mills and Shingle 
and Lath Mills. Are prepared to fill orders for any quantity or descrip- 
tion of Southern Pine or Cypress Lumber, Timber, etc. 

Banner Land and Lumber Co., 

MOBILE, ALABAMA. 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



4a 








At an elevation of over two hundred feet and within a few 

miles of the city of Mobile, surrounded on every side by hand- 
some villas, Icvely gardens and woodland walks, 
always bright with flowers, 
SFrtllSTO HILL OOLLEC3-E, 

The most flourishing Catholic University of the South, is beautifully situated. 



THIS celebrated Institution offers every advantage to boys anxious- 
to improve in health and to advance in literature and science. The 
very extensive and elegant grounds attached to the College, a 
charming lake, formed by a never-failing spring of cool water, the very 
large and commodious rooms and halls of the buildings, and the con- 
soling fact that yellow fever has never visited the place, make this Col- 
lege one of the mDst desirable homes in the South. Were its many 
advantages sufficiently known in the North and Northwest, no doubt 
fond parents would gladly avail themselves of these advantages, in order 
to build up the weak and delicate constitutions of their sons suffering 
from the very severe and trying winters of Northern climes. Besides, 
every opportunity is offered at the College for the intellectual and moral 
training of the students. Jesuit Masters, remarkable alike for their 
knowledge and for their efficient method of communicating their ideas 
to their scholars, devote themselves with their wonted energy to the 
formation of the mind and heart of those intrusted to their care. 

Strangers should pay a passing visit to this lovely place, in order to 
see for themselves one of the many advantages that Mobile offers to the 
citizens of the North and Northwest. 



44 ADVERTISEMENTS. 



Academy of the Visitation, 



YOUNG LADIES AND LITTLE GIRLS. 



Established in 1S33* 



Located on Spring Hill Road, Three Miles, midway, 
from Mobile and Spring Hill College. 



A THOROUGH MATHEMATICAL AND LITERARY 
COURSE IS PURSUED. 



Superior advantages in Music, Drawing and Paint- 
ing, and the Languages. 



DUT-DOOR EXERCISE REQUIRED. 

NO NIGHT STUDY. 

HEALTH A SPECIALTY. 

DRESS IN UNIFORM. 

ACADEMY OF THE VISITATION, 

NEAR MOBILE, ALA. 



ADVEETISEMENTS. 45- 



WILLIAMS & GLENNON, 

No. 60 St. Francis Street, 
MOBILE, -A^LA^B A.M:^, 

The oldest real estate house in the city, 

BUY, SELL AND RENT, 

ON COIVI MISSION, 

ALL CLASSES OF REAL ESTATE. 



—CONSISTING OF— 



Improved City Property, Farms, Pine Lands, 
Suburban Places. 



ALSO, I>EA.LEK^S IN 



STOCKSHEBONDS. 



ON MOETGAGES AND OTHER SECUEITIES. 



Send for Catalogue. Correspondence Solicited. 



46 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 




ADVERTISEMENTS. 47 



GULF CITY OYSTER DEPOT 



F. -A.I^IDO'X'ITO 



\VI10L,KSAt,E \ ^VX/'O TP ff^ B^ r^" ■ / AT WHAKF. 
NDKETAll.^ llY^lrKHl footot 

Dealer in ^ ^J M. ^ M. Ead JL 1 W# ■ ) St. Francis St., 

r». O. Oox 3^4. 3IO BILE, ALA. 



^^Oysters in Barrels and Cans, hermetically sealed. Country Orders solicited and 
promptly attended to. 

I take pleasure to inform the travelling public that I have established a 

H -A. I=t 3VC Ji^ G -''Sr , 

UNDER THE BATTLE HOUSE, MOBILE, 

where I keep a line stock of 

PURE DRUGS, MEDICINES, CHEMICALS, TOILET ARTICLES, PERFUMERY, 

and everything kept in a flrst-class Drug Store. 

P. C. CANDIDUS, 

Pharmaceutical Chemist. 



FERDINAND SMITH, 



Successor to Smith & Dumas, 

RESTAURANT ^ OYSTER SALOON. 

FIRST-CLASS LODGINOS- 

Nos. 32 and 36 N. Royal Street, Bar with the best Liquors at No. 36, 

MOBILE, ALA., 



Ladies' Private DINING SALOON Ui3 Stairs- 



TOWLE'S INSTITUTE FOR BOYS, 

N. W. Oor. Government and Hallett Streets- 

The Curriculum embraces an English and a Mathematical course of eight years; a 
■Classical course of four years; and a Commercial course of one year. 

A. TO'WLE, Principal. 



J. E. KOOFEPt, 

Wholesale and Retail Packer and Shipper of Oysters and Fish. 

lO, 13 «& 18 CONTl HTKEET, 
P. o. Box 920. XWIolailo, .AJXek,. 

^^ MY PERSONAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO ALL ORDERS. 



48 



ADVERTISEMENTS. 



MOBILE DOOR, SASH AND BLIND FACTORY. 



.C0X,TuKNEF\8cClOyy 




MOULDINGS, SCROLL SAWING> 

AVOOD TUKNING, 

Brackets, Mantels, TVindoiV 

and Itoor Frames, 

Builders' Hardware, 

WIINDOW OLASS, 

AND 

PURE MIXED PAINTS. 



Sample Cards Furnished. 



AND 



p. F. McKAY. 



THOS. T. KOCHE. 



IVI.9KAY $t ROCHE, 

SUCCESSORS TO R. DANE, 
3F»I1.C>:E»H.IETC>I=I.S. 

Nos. 39 and 41 Royal Street, near the Battle House, and 58, 59, 60 
and 61 St. Michael Street, and 15 and 18 St. Joseph Street. 



These Stables are the most elegant in this country. They have the largest and best 
selected stock of Carriages and light vehicles that can be found in any stable in the South. 

They employ none but the most polite and experienced drivers, who dress in livery 
when desired. 

Their stock of road Horses are equal in speed to the best in the country, and perfectly 
gentle and reliable. 

They have also an Omnibus and Baggage Transfer connected with their Stables, with 
Office in the Battle House. Passengers and Baggage called for from hotels and private resi- 
dences at all hours. 

Orders for Carriages and IBuggies left at our Office in the Battle House, will have 
prompt attention. 

No pains will be spared to please all who furnish us with their orders. 

THOMAS JONES, ^ 

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL 

DEA.LER IlSr OYSTERS, 

Betifveen St. I^ouis and St. IMEicliael Sts. 



My facilities are unsurpassed by any dealer in this city and my personal attention is 
given to every order. 



THE 



BATTLE HOUSE, 



MOBILE, ALABAMA. 



Having been improved and altered during the past season jand 
thoroughly repaired, repainted, recarpeted, and in great part refur- 
nished AT AN EXPENSE OF OVEE THIRTY THOUSAND DOL- 

I 
LAES, this well-known Hotel can be recommended to the attention 

of the traveling public. 

I 

I 

UNUSUAL FACILITIES OFFERED T^ 

WINTER TOURISTS 



Terms as reasonable as those of any other flrst-class hotel in the 
South. 

1^. O. I^OBBIlSrS, 

LESSEE AND PEOPEIETOE. 




a-ellnnnl. ^^^„t^^ 



^and I. 

G TJ li F ^ ' '' O F 



M E X I C O 



LAUTEN CNG.Ct n/ailiLltjUii, IJ.a 






y^^':^^^^ -^ 



























^ "^>'- 












>_> : 

■ ^^ . 

>■■>■:!:> :3i»^^2 












^^^^ 



5> ^~r> :3»^ ;^:;u>-.-^'^: 
^^ ^^^ Z>^' ^>j> J>:2]> 



::> t::>s>.. z>i>>3ag^ .^'-^-> 



:>:z>- ..>:::3^.:^^^^R^ ^a';t:2»;^32 


















>^'''::>^ 






>:^:3:> I3>v3>^^ 3>:^_o >:^:»>::^i> ^> j>' ^3 :>^:> ->>: 





















■ ■ :z> 



>^ I> 3» 3:>' :> 









3 £> 






i»-i:> 33> ^3^-2 
■'^^i> :'.;:3is>- 37>' :3:s3 

^ ::^>:> 3>3> ^?>^ 









^3:^^-^ i53ii>' ■':^^^> ~>.^ ^i> 
■ ^p ■ > 5>~:>> -:^ -^^ -> > -^3 ^ : 
"■;>> :">::>"::>>>■:>?&> ^^' :>> -^Ml , 
:^.5;v. -^:>-=:>^ -3>:^3:> -^^ 
~^'y'^^ >3'"^>^ ->.>-:2>3> .7^:i 
:7^-,>^:^':^>.:-*3> ^^ 
^>3 3>'3>/->>'s>3-> .^7^ 

'^. 7:>"3::3^: •>;>^^3 ..^ 
^.3> ■?>:3^-:'-:i^^^3 ,..^ 



^y^y ^ 33 
>.^> .3:3 
.'-y^ ^>;3 

J3.3>"^ 
^3 3> ^ 

33 ::> i> 

33:j»--^>:3" 
:->3:> -:>z:> 



^v^^ 



S^> 3 



3> > 






> >:i3: ■:3>^3 



■ " 3 ';>-3 3-.-^ 

> " :?^3^ x> ;::3;-v;3u 

-^- ■^?:3 ^ 33 353» ,: 

.-:>■ ^2^ '■v>3> 3-->^"^ ">3>- >^'>=^^ 

■3 ^3^-^3> ->>:!> -'^3> :>:'-:3> .:_ 
- 3^:3> >^^3 3-:3 
^ 3. ,..3^. --:^:3> y :^ J 

• ;)■■!> J>/C^»7 ';>'..-^ ;^ ' y 

"^- ---""^ -.3S ^^^ £^ yy> '7i^->.''3^^ .?^2^i^ 

■ ■'■ "^ ' 3E^ 3^J1» ^:3*^'^".--3^ 

► ■ 3:3>' ■ :p»2>r:s» 3 

:3 ■ : x^ 3;> ■2> - ^3> ::>3~n> 3> - ^ > ^ -^ ^^.^^ ^- 

" y^:^^ 3:>*3^33> ^7> 3 3> -^ . :>3 ^.^ 

_► v> 3>'_3k3->T3>^ _>3.-3»3^ >3 '30: 

3:^3». :i33:3*-3^' ^^o^i^^^s^: .3>3' .:: 



'^->3> yy^i^ y^ 
-yyy> yyy^ -^ 
3>3> '^^::3^3 
:x> 3 o3> 3 
:>3^3> ^^> 3 

>>^3 ■o3>.3j 



^- 333>'"i3 ''3>> 35»>^ 

_3>3;>> 3^.._3>> ?::>3' 

,:i>ir>^>3 t:3>r S '33> ;:: 



3»33^7: 



>^>;::j»>:33a» -■ 



UBRARVOFCONGB^SS 



Q 014 540 363 / 



